I Lost My Wallet ... Help!

If you've lost your wallet then you obviously need to act quickly. These tips assume you don't have a handy, itemized list of your wallet recorded (this is always a good idea).

You'll find your credit card numbers, as well as contact numbers, for the issuers within your monthly statements. But if you never wrote down your driver's license number then you'll want to contact your state's department of motor vehicles and follow their procedures for having a "fraud alert" attached to your number -- while they issue you a new driver's license.

If, for some reason, you don't have immediate access to all of your credit card accounts, with the creditors' contact information, then you'll need to contact get in touch with each of the 3 big credit reporting agencies immediately.

Here are their phone numbers: Trans Union - 800-888-4213, Experian - 888-397-3742 and Equifax - 800-685-1111.

Request a free copy of your credit report. Anyone may request a free copy of his or her credit report from credit reporting agencies each year. And ask that a "fraud alert" be attached to your credit profile.

The way the system is set up is that if you contact one agency and report identity theft they're supposed to contact the other 2 automatically. However, you shouldn't leave this up to them. Contact all 3 yourself.

You can obtain a free yearly credit report (from all 3 credit reporting agencies) online at https://www.annualcreditreport.com. If you get your credit report online then make sure you either fully print out each report when it comes up on the screen, or are able to access the report online for a specific period of time without being charged.

Credit reports contain account numbers, as well as the contact info, for all of the issuers of your credit cards. If you close any accounts it's a good idea to have creditors note, "Customer requested this account be closed."."

Be advised, however, that simply closing every credit account could make it difficult for you to obtain credit in the future. Possibly ask the fraud department of your credit card issuer if you can simply close out one number and get another card with another account number.

A fraud alert activated with credit reporting agencies generally stays active for 90 days. The purpose is to alert creditors regarding potential ID theft fraud in relation to your credit profile ... this helps them be aware a fraudster may try to use your stolen information.

Though verbal requests for fraud alerts last 90 days, many fraud experts suggest you write and ask that the fraud alerts be extended for up to 7 years. (This typically is done after looking at your credit reports).